Spratelloides delicatulus (Bennet) as a potential live-bait for tuna in the Laccadives.

Abstract

TUNA fishing on an organised scale exists only in Minicoy among the islands of
the Laccadive Archipelago (Jones & Kumaran 1959). Though the oceanic skipjack,
Katsuwonus pelamis is widely distributed in the Laccadive Sea, a fishery for
it is non-existent in any of the other islands. One of the reasons attributed for
this is the absence of suitable baitflsh in the lagoons of these islands while the Minicoy
Lagoon abounds in a variety of small fishes which are caught and utilised for the
purpose (Jones 1958).